Earlier today, Australia couldn’t prolong its innings further. It took just five balls for Ashwin to dismiss Mitchell Starc caught out at the hand of Ravindra Jadeja for 61. The entire Aussie team got bowled out for 260.

Steve O’Keefe dismantled India

India’s first innings was even more embarrassing. Entire Indian cricket team got bundled out for 105 with Lokesh Rahul (64) remaining the sole fighter for India on Day 2. Lokesh Rahul’s dismissal at 94/4 was virtually the bad omen. After his dismissal, India lost their 6 wickets within just 50 balls adding a meager 11-run on the scoreboard.

Steve O’Keefe topples Indian batting line-up

The Aussie Chinaman Steve O’Keefe inflicted a big catastrophe on India. Initially, 260-run seemed quite easy. Many expected India to take a good lead in the first innings. But Aussies had different plans. Introducing the spinner Steve O’Keefe in the very second over clearly showed the intent of Captain Steve Smith. He wanted a breakthrough from the very start.

His strategy fructified when Steve O’Keefe, playing only his fifth international test, completely terrified the entire team. No batsman seemed comfortable playing against his magnificent left-hand spin bowling. Only, Lokesh Rahul 64 (97b, 4s x 10, 6s x 1) played well to some extent but eventually got caught by Warner off Steve O’Keefe at the 33rd over.

It was just the beginning of Steve O’Keefe’s destruction. In the 33rd over of India’s innings, he chipped in 3 quick wickets within just 4 balls including the prized wicket of Lokesh Rahul. The dismissal of Ajinkya Rahane (13) and Wriddhiman Saha (0) virtually broke the Indian middle order leaving the entire team in complete state of shock. After the end of 33rd over, India were languished at 95 for 6.

Turning point of the Day 2

The early dismissal of Virat Kohli for 0 was definitely a big blow to Indian cricket team. Every time, he is dismissed cheaply, Indian team faced some tensed moments in a match. Indian captain tried to play Starc’s beautiful delivery but ended up getting caught behind by Handscomb.

Also, what hurts Indian team more was the non availablity of Karun Nair. Despite hitting a triple century in his last match, he was completely overlooked in the matches that followed. Without Karun Nair, Indian lower order lacked the depth in batting to maneuver the Aussie bowlers properly. Eventually, entire team was all-out for 105. Australia earned a good lead of 155 runs.

Instead of Saha, Lokesh Rahul could have been asked to keep wickets while accommodating Karun Nair in the team at least for this test as an experiment. But sadly, It didn’t happen.

Ashwin struck 3 for 68

With 155 runs lead on their heads, India were definitely nervous. Virat Kohli straightway introduced Ravichandran Ashwin into attack with the very first ball of Australia’s second innings. It paid off well with Ashwin dismissing David Warner (10) LBW in the last ball of his first over. He also got two more wickets of Peter Handscomb (19) and Matt Renshaw (31).

But, unperturbed Steven Smith kept hitting good shots across the ground. He is playing unbeaten on 59* (117b, 4s x 7) with Mitchell Marsh 31* from the other end. At stumps, Australia were 143/4 with 298 runs already in their kitty.

Atish Home Chowdhury is a freelance writer. sports are inseparable from him. He especially loves WWE, Cricket and other sports. It was long ago during his childhood he aimed to become a cricketer first but his creativity didn’t allow him to become a player. Instead he chose to be a sports journalist. This fulfills my aim both as a creative person as well as it keeps me inside the world of sports too.